A PENSIONER who was caught with thousands of indecent images of children has been jailed.

Thomas Campbell downloaded a haul of nearly 7,000 indecent pictures over an eight-year period which showed children as young as two years old being sexually abused by adults.

Campbell, 70, was said to have possessed more than 1,000 images rated at Category A – the most extreme end of the spectrum.

Campbell pleaded guilty to possessing the images between 2013 and last year when he appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court last month and he returned to the dock for sentencing on Tuesday.

The court was told that the OAP’s wife was standing by him but his adult children had disowned him and they had also banned him from having any contact with his grandchildren.

Sheriff Alistair Noble told Campbell that “custody can’t be avoided in this case” due to the “gravity of the offending” and jailed the pensioner for 18 months.

The sheriff also placed Campbell, of Castle Terrace, Port Seton, on the sex offenders' register for 10 years.

Previously, the court was told that police raided Campbell's home after receiving intelligence that he was downloading the material while living at his former home in Loanhead, Midlothian.

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Officers discovered five electronic devices containing the images at the property, with two hard drives hidden away in his attic.

Fiscal depute Anna Chisholm told the court that a total of 3,782 accessible indecent images of children were recovered, along with a further 3,165 images which were said to be inaccessible.

Ms Chisholm said that more than 1,000 of the pictures were rated at Category A and added that the images contained both male and female children, with the victims ranging in age between two and 16.

Ms Chisholm said that the internet searches used by Campbell included the terms “teen dolls” and “pre-teen angels”.

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Solicitor Mark Harrower, for Campbell, handed the court “a very eloquent” letter of support from Campbell’s wife but said that his children did not want any contact with their father.

The lawyer added that, since his arrest, Campbell had voluntarily attended sessions with child abuse organisation Stop It Now and had paid for treatment with a private counsellor.

Mr Harrower said that his client was “extremely embarrassed and ashamed” at his offending and also for the “pain and suffering he has caused his wife”.

Campbell pleaded guilty to two offences of possessing indecent images of children between July 17, 2013, and March 22 last year.